2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule features 2-week Olympic break
Atlanta and Watkins Glen will host playoff races
NASCAR’s 2024 Cup Series schedule includes one new track and two different tracks in the playoffs.
Iowa Speedway is the only track new to the Cup Series on the schedule, while Atlanta and Watkins Glen will host playoff races. Atlanta’s second date moves from July to September, while the annual Watkins Glen races moves to Sept. 15 because of the 2024 Olympics.
Since NBC has the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series television schedule and also televises the Olympics, NASCAR will take a two-week break over the summer while the Olympics are ongoing. The same thing happened in 2021 during the Tokyo Olympics.
The two-week Olympic break also means the 2024 season will end a week later than it does this year. The season finale at Phoenix will be on Nov. 10.
Darlington keeps its annual Labor Day weekend date and the Olympic break means that race is the final race of the regular season next year instead of the first race of the playoffs. Daytona has served as the race site for the regular season finale in recent years and it will host the 25th race of the season.
Atlanta, Watkins Glen and Bristol will host the three races of the first round, while Kansas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval will make up the second round. The final four races of the season are unchanged from 2023. The third round will include Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville before Phoenix. Texas hosted a race in the second round of the playoffs in 2023 and will host a race in the spring in 2024.
The season unofficially begins again with the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 4. The exhibition race is two weeks before the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
As expected, there’s no race at Auto Club Speedway at Fontana after NASCAR sold off much of the land surrounding the speedway. It hosted the second race of the season in 2023. Atlanta takes that spot on the schedule before races in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The spring Bristol race is March 17 as the track previously announced that its spring race would be on the concrete track surface and not dirt. The race moves from Easter night as Richmond takes over the Easter date on March 31.
2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule
Feb. 4: Clash (exhibition)
Feb. 18: Daytona 500
Feb. 25: Atlanta
March 3: Las Vegas
March 10: Phoenix
March 17: Bristol
March 24: Circuit of the Americas
March 31: Richmond
April 7: Martinsville
April 14: Texas
April 21: Talladega
April 28: Dover
May 5: Kansas
May 12: Darlington
May 19: All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (exhibition)
May 26: Charlotte
June 2: Gateway
June 9: Sonoma
June 16: Iowa
June 23: New Hampshire
June 30: Nashville
July 7: Chicago
July 14: Pocono
July 21: Indianapolis
Aug. 11: Richmond
Aug. 18: Michigan
Aug. 24: Daytona
Sept. 1: Darlington
Sept. 8: Atlanta
Sept. 15: Watkins Glen
Sept. 21: Bristol
Sept. 29: Kansas
Oct. 6: Talladega
Oct. 13: Charlotte Roval
Oct. 20: Las Vegas
Oct. 27: Homestead
Nov. 3: Martinsville
Nov. 10: Phoenix